Before It's News: Which Colleges and Universities Have the Highest Veteran Enrollment?

Before It’s News

http://beforeitsnews.com/economy/2015/07/which-colleges-and-universities-have-the-highest-veteran-enrollment-2740012.html 

Naturally, this quest often leads to the classroom—where veterans can build upon the career they started in the service, return to the career they had before they enlisted, or begin an entirely new path.

But where do veterans go to school? Do they tend to enroll at community colleges or universities? Online or in person? Are the top schools for veteran enrollment concentrated in certain parts of the country?The answers to these questions can help talent acquisition professionals locate veterans who fit into their recruitment strategies. This information may also be helpful to educators or workforce development professionals.

Source: EMSI via Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS); public institutions only

Name                                                        2013 Veteran Enrollment

University of Maryland-University College    12,704
Central Texas College                                         5,876
Tidewater Community College                           5,776
Ivy Tech Community College                              4,968
Northern Virginia Community College              4,084
Troy University                                                       3,991
Florida State College at Jacksonville                3,751
Arizona State University-Tempe                         3,108
Old Dominion University                                      3,001
Austin Community College District                     2,945
Fayetteville Technical Community College      2,898
San Antonio College                                             2,768
Tarrant County College District                           2,743
Pikes Peak Community College                         2,712
Miami Dade College                                             2,518
Lone Star College System                                   2,402
Houston Community College                              2,260
The University of Texas at San Antonio             2,256
University of Alaska Anchorage                          2,118
Valencia College                                                    2,101

Here are a few takeaways from this data:

• Many veterans choose to study online. The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) headlines the list with more than double the enrollments of the second most popular institution. UMUC’s ranking is especially significant because, although it is part of the University of Maryland system, it is also a large online education provider. Troy University, which is sixth on the list, also specializes in distance learning.
• Among vets, community colleges are more popular than universities. Of the top 20 schools for veteran employment, 13 of them are community colleges. Community colleges—which often help students draw clearer connections between education and careers, offer accelerated programs, and cost less—may better suit the needs of veterans.
• Veteran enrollment is regionally concentrated. The top schools for veteran enrollment are largely concentrated around Washington, DC (in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina) and in the Southwest (most notably in Texas). In fact, seven of the top 20 schools are in Texas—most likely due to the large concentration of military bases and installments in the Lone Star State, and thus a large concentration of veterans.

The veteran enrollment data in this post comes from EMSI’s college recruiting software, which lets you filter every higher education institution in the US by degree level, race/ethnicity, gender, veteran, and disability status. To learn more about EMSI data, contact us. Follow EMSI on Twitter (@DesktopEcon) or check us out on LinkedIn and Facebook.